Twists of Life
by Moth Stafu
Summary: Claire and Star go to New York and discover a past they never thought possible... UPDATED FINALLY!!!! *cough* after... 6 months... Chapter Eleven is finally up!
1. Chapter One

I had to take this down and repost it cuz it wasn't working right… and in doing so I lost all my beautiful reviews… You don't have to review again if you already did on this chapter, but I only got to read the first 3 =( I know there was 9 tho, so I will be continuing the story.

Note: There will be swearing in this fic, probably drug and alcohol use and sexual scenes and/or references. The main characters won't be drug or alcohol users and they won't have sex every other day, so don't worry. Italics indicate somebody's thoughts, flashbacks or daydreams, etc.

Disclaimer: I don't own the movie Newsies or any of the original characters from it. I own anyone you don't recognize from the movie, except maybe a few characters, but I'll tell you who owns them if they ever appear…

Twists of Life

Chapter One

All of them were gathered in the restaurant laughing and talking. Some were playing cards while others gathered around a boy doing flips and still others were play fighting or wrestling. The owner looked on, trying to be disapproving but failing miserably. None of the costumers paid him any mind except to occasionally order a soda or a sandwich. 

_They numbered almost 40 and ranged in age from 9 to 18 of both sexes, but all of them were dressed in ragged clothing. Most wore cloth hats, with the occasional derby or bowler and one cowboy hat. _

_A bell rang in the distance and in the blink of an eye, the restaurant was empty except for a few who threw down some change before running out. As the door closed behind the last one, the owner picked up and cloth and coming out from behind the counter, started clearing and wiping down the tables to get ready for the next costumers. _

_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_

15 April 2002

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP* Claire Masterson groaned and rolled over in her bed to hit the snooze button on her alarm clock. She missed and ended up on the floor. "Fuck." She muttered under her breath, still not fully awake, but knowing she wouldn't get back to sleep. She stood up and switched her alarm clock to "off", before taking of her pajamas and wrapping herself in a towel. _I really hope Chris isn't up yet_. She thought as she headed to the bathroom. She really didn't want to fight him for the shower this morning.

Luckily, the coast was clear and she was out of the shower and back to her room in 10 minutes. _What to wear, what to wear..._ She reached into her dresser and pulled out the first thing her hand came in contact with. _Looks like I'm a newsie today… What a new concept. _The pants, just like most of the other pants in Claire owned, were cut off right below the knee and slightly baggy, with a tendency to slip down. She remedied this problem with a pair of suspenders, which she put on over one of her many wife beaters. A dark blue button down shirt followed and a cabbie hat completed the outfit. 

Claire shoved her feet into her shoes, grabbed her backpack and purse and ran out of her room and down the stairs to the kitchen, pausing to grab some toast and drink a glass of orange juice before running outside to the bus stop down the street. She got there right as the bus pulled up and she hopped on, automatically heading towards the middle of the bus where all the kids sat that weren't part of any popular clique or labeled as a lower group. 

"Hey Star." Claire said as she plopped into a seat next to her best friend, Star Roberts, who was also dressed as a newsie. "Hey Claire, guess what?" Star bounced in her seat. "I figured out what we're doing for my birthday!" Claire turned to her excitedly. "Yeah, and what's that?" Star paused dramatically. "I convinced my parents to let me go to New York for 5 days and bring 2 friends, which they'll pay for." She grinned as Claire's mouth dropped open. "And… they talked with you parents already and its good to go."

When Claire finally got her voice to work, she squealed loudly, causing several people to turn and look at her, although they were used to her random outbursts. "So who's the second person then? Don't they want us to have a chaperone?" Star nodded and her grin got bigger. "They agreed to let Travis chaperone. I guess they finally got over the fear that we all have raging hormones that we can't control." Both girls rolled their eyes. "They should allow us some pride! I mean, Travis is 21 and we're 16!" Claire said. "I guess they finally realized that after we told them about 50 billion times." Star nodded in agreement and the two girls stood up as the bus approached Pasadena High School.

"Buy me last pape, Miss?" The small boy looked up forlornly at the well-dressed woman. He coughed a few times for good measure and the woman's face melted into a look of concern. "Oh, you poor dear!" She cooed, leaning down and pressing a quarter into his hand. "Here, take this and go buy yourself some food. You look starving." As she turned away, the boy darted away through the crowd to a corner where an older boy stood, yelling out his own version of the day's headlines. The smaller boy held up his quarter triumphantly and grabbed another paper, darting off into the crowd again.

Walking through Central Park, shouting out headlines, the girl noticed there weren't as many people as normal. Looking up at the sky, she realized that a thunderstorm was about to start. As she hurried back towards the entrance of the park, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. 

"Claire!" She realized Star was hissing her name and poking her in the shoulder with a pencil. As the room came into focus, Claire saw the teacher glaring at her from the front of the room. "Can you answer the question Miss Masterson, or would you like me to repeat it for a third time?" Snickers came from several of her classmates and Claire blushed. "Um… could you please repeat it?" The teacher sighed as if Claire had just asked her to carry the Eiffel Tower around the world on her back. "The question is: What is the square root of 153, rounded to the nearest tenth?" Claire pretended to think for a minute while she pushed buttons on the calculator in her lap "Um… 12.37." 

The teacher glared at her for another minute before moving on to another question. Claire sighed in relief and turned around, mouthing a "thanks" to Star, who grinned and nodded. _Why was I so out of it? I know I wasn't sleeping but that was almost like the dream I had last night. It seemed like a continuation or something.  And it was so real! Almost like a memory or something. Weird_.

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There we go… new improved chapter. I'll try to post another really soon.


	2. Chapter Two

Alrighty, here's the next chapter. Thanks to all who reviewed Chapter One before I had to take it down, and if anyone reviewed it after I put it back up thank you also. (I haven't checked yet.) Here goes…

Disclaimer: Vandals don't belong to me, nor does the song Café 405. All I own in this story is Claire, Star, Travis and their families and any other people at their school. I don't however own PHS. And the idea is mine. I don't own Buster's either.

Twists of Life – Chapter Two

It was Wednesday, which meant Claire, Star and Travis were leaving for New York in 2 days. Claire and Star were excited, but Travis indifferent, seeing as how he'd been to New York before and wasn't much of a Newsies fan. 

Claire shoved her books into her locker. As she was about to close it, a piece of paper fell out. She picked it up and looked at it curiously. The date read 15 November 1901. 

_To my Moth,_

_I don't have time to write more than a quick note._

_My father has decided to take me to England so I_

_can "learn to be a proper gentleman". I'll try to_

_come back and see you as soon as I can get away,_

_and I will write you at least once a week. Don't_

_forget me._

_Forever yours,_

_Mush_

Claire furrowed her brow in confusion. It had to be a joke. There was no way a letter from 1901 could have ended up in her locker. And yet the handwriting looked so familiar, although she was sure she'd never seen it before. Just then she realized the halls were almost empty and she was supposed to meet Travis and Star out front. She shoved the note in her pocket and ran towards the door.

"There you are! We thought maybe you'd tried to walk home!" Travis Davidson looked out at her from his car, his blue eyes twinkling. Claire grinned and hopped into the front seat, turning around to say hi to Star before starting to look through Travis's CDs. She decided on a compilation and put in the CD player, turning up the volume and rolling her window down. 

As the first notes of Café 405 started playing, Travis started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, while Star and Claire sang at the top of their lungs. 

"Watching her at the mall, She don't know me at all, hope no employee overhears. Think I'm in love with you, red, yellow, white and blue. Seems I've been watching her for years…"

 Travis pulled up in front of Buster's and Claire and Star jumped out. Star ran to get a table, while Claire went to the counter to order for all of them and Travis parked the car. "One Root Beer float, one double sundae with coffee ice cream and a brownie sundae." The guy behind the counter nodded and assembled the order. "That'll be $9.75 please." Claire handed him the money as Travis came up and grabbed the float and a sundae. Claire grabbed the other one and they went upstairs to where Star was waiting for them.

They ate their ice cream quickly, because Claire's parents wanted her to be home early and they all wanted to start packing anyway. Travis drove Star and Claire to Claire's house, where Star's parents would pick her up later. 

As the two girls ran up to Claire's room they passed Chris. "Hey Claire, I heard you're going to New York on Saturday." He smirked at her and then smiled at Star. "Yeah, so?" Claire shrugged. "That means I don't have to live with you for 5 days, right?" He cheered and then started laughing as Claire punch him in the shoulder. "Are you going too, Star?" Star nodded. "Aw too bad. I've been wondering what you were like when my brat of a sister isn't around." The two girls stared at him in shock as he continued on down the stairs. 

"Uh… that was gross… my brother just hit on you." Star shrugged. "Well you have to admit, he is pretty cute. Even if he IS your brother…" Claire snorted. "Yeah, and he won't let me forget it. Every time he gets a date he teases me. It's not my fault that the guys that ask me out aren't my type. C'mon, help me figure out what I need to pack. My mom agreed to let me skip school on Friday to get any stuff I need."

She threw her backpack onto her bed and kicked off her shoes, before emptying her pockets. The note fell onto her bed from between several other papers and she felt drawn to it somehow. 

Picking it up, Claire noticed again how familiar the old-fashioned writing was. And it was signed Mush. It HAD to be a prank by someone who knew about her obsession with Newsies. Especially since it was written to Moth. A lot of the kids at school called her that ever since she'd written a report about moths for English. It was also a known fact that she tended to stand under the nearest light fixture, no matter how bright a room was.

"Moth, watch this!" A boy of about 16 did a flip off the curb and landed in front of the girl watching him. Another boy with an eye patch walked up. "Showing off for your girl again Mush?" The boy named Mush smirked. "Aw, you're just jealous Blink. You can never manage to stay with a girl for more than a couple days." The two started jumping around, pretending to punch each other. The girl watched them for a minute, laughing, and then turned and started walking off. Immediately, the curly-haired one run up next to her, putting an arm around her waist and dropping a kiss on her cheek.

"Claire? Claire! CLAIRE!" Star shook her best friend gently. "Where are you today?" Claire grinned sheepishly. "Sorry… I was just thinking. Do you wanna watch Newsies or D2 while we pack?" Star held up D2 and then popped the tape into the VCR sitting next to the T.V. on Claire's dresser. 

The girls dragged out a suitcase and started throwing clothes in, chattering excitedly as the movie played in the background. 

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Well… there's the end of that chap. I know I'm spending a lot of time on little details, but I'm trying to get everything established before I actually get into the story… It's killing me. Next chapter will be more exciting, if you didn't think this one was. I did! But unless you're a mind reader and you have a small clue about what this story is gonna be like, it most likely was confusing or boring… oh well… review please! Oh, and I might need people… I'm not sure yet, but  email me with your info… I need: Looks, personality, Newsie nick, real name (not YOUR name… your newsie's real name…) whether you're Brooklyn or Manhattan and which guy you would like to be with (and a back up or two if your first choice is taken). I'm not promising I'm gonna put you in, I don't know if I'll actually need anyone, but give me the info anyway. Ok, that's all for now. Please review!


	3. Chapter Three

Thanks again to all who reviewed, I'm not online so I don't remember everyone… Also, it appears that ff.net is selectively italicizing for me… So some things that are supposed to be italicized aren't. I'll try to start marking them better… Hey, just cause I'm curious… does anyone know (or have an idea) of where this story is going? (Other than Belle, cause I already talked to her about it.) You'll have a better idea after this chapter, if you don't have any ideas yet… but write them when you review just so I can see what people think about where I'm headed…

Disclaimer: This is my last disclaimer. Anything nobody recognizes is mine. Any recognized people, places, events, bands, etc belong to whoever owns them and not me.  So don't sue me. You'd get my cut up jeans that I'm making a bag out of and my scissors.

Twists of Life – Chapter Three

Claire looked out the window to the clouds beneath the airplane. They were pure white and looked thick enough to land on. Suddenly, the plane dipped down, going through the clouds and scattering the illusion as the seat belt sign came on. Claire nudged Star and Travis awake and they buckled their seat belts and put their stuff away. "We will be landing at the New York International Airport in approximately 5 minutes. Please stay seated and keep your seat belts fastened." The voice of the pilot came over the intercom and more passengers started gathering their things and fastening seatbelts.

As the plane landed and taxied to the boarding ramp, Star and Claire could barely keep from shouting for joy. They were finally in New York! No parents, no restrictions, just them and Travis and lots of places to see. They waited impatiently as the plane came to a stop and the door opened and immediately scooted past Travis and as far down the aisle as possible, until they were stopped by and old woman who was slowly making her way to the front of the plane. Finally, they reached the front and ignoring the pilot, scooted past the old woman and ran up the ramp. Claire remembered that they had to wait for Travis and grabbed Star by her backpack, almost causing Star to fall over backwards. She ignored Star's protests and pushed her into a chair, sitting down beside her to wait.

After what seemed like a million years, Travis appeared at the top of the ramp and the two girls ran over to him, each taking him by an arm and dragging him towards the baggage claim. They got their bags and went outside to hail a cab. They got to the hotel and went in to the front desk to get the keys for their rooms. 

Claire's eyes widened as she stepped into the room her and Star would be sharing and put down her suitcase. It was huge. There were two beds, both king size and a big screen TV. A table and two chairs were in front of a window and there was another chair in front of an oak desk. The bathroom had a separate shower and bathtub, with huge fluffy towels on a rack. There was also a glass door leading to a balcony. She stepped over to the door that went to the room Travis was in and opened it to see he'd already done the same and was putting his clothes in an armoire. Claire went back to where her suitcase sat and dragged it to the dresser. Star dropped her suitcase on her bed and flopped down next to it, picking up the remote from a small table. 

Travis walked into the room and sat on Claire's bed. "Do you guys just want to go somewhere for dinner or just order room service?" Claire put the last shirt into a drawer and shut it, putting her suitcase on a rack behind the door. "Room service. I'm too tired to go anywhere right now." Star nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too. Order me a cheeseburger or something." Travis picked up the phone and placed their orders and then walked back to his room. "I'm going to take a shower. The food should be here in about 20 minutes." He closed the door.

After dinner, the three friends watched TV for a little while and then decided to go to bed early. Star was asleep as soon as the light went off, but Claire lay there for a bit, staring into the darkness and thinking about all they would do tomorrow. _Maybe we'll even meet someone from Newsies._ She thought as she drifted off to sleep.

~Dream~

Moth stared at the note in her hands, reading it over and over again. He was going to England? Looking over to his bunk she saw it was stripped and the only things under it belonged to Snitch. He was gone. Moth felt her eyes well up and she sat down on her bed slowly, clutching the note and staring at the bunk that had been Mush's. She half expected him to burst through the door, laughing and dragging the box that held his possessions behind him. Only after several minutes did she fully realize that Mush, her beautiful Mush, was gone. She buried her head into her pillow and wept.

~End Dream~

Claire woke up with tears streaming down her face and feeling just as tired as when she had gone to sleep. A quick glance at the clock by her bed showed that the alarm would ring in 5 minutes. She groaned and got out of bed, making her way to the bathroom. As she passed the mirror, she caught sight of her face, which was tearstained and blotchy. She had huge bags under her eyes and there was something else that she couldn't put her finger on, a look to her eyes that hadn't been there the night before. She splashed water on her face and patted it dry with a towel. Picking up her brush, she began pulling it through her hair as she wandered to the dresser and pulled out her favorite newsie-type clothes. 

When they had all gotten up and dressed, the trio went down to the hotel's restaurant to have breakfast and plan their day. They decided to go to the Horace Greeley statue first and then decide from there. They obtained a map from the front desk and started out the door, two newsie teenagers and an amused 21 year old.

When they had the statue in sight, they noticed two guys standing in front of it. As they drew closer, Claire saw that the guys were dancing and then realized she knew the dance. Running up to them, she and Star joined in on "We need an earthquake or a war." Travis started laughing so hard at the mere coincidence of it all that he had to sit down on a nearby bench. As the dance ended, the two guys noticed Claire and Star. Claire turned to the one nearest her. "Hey, my name's Claire." She looked into his eyes and froze. His deep brown eyes stared back at her, just as startled as she was. "Mush?" Claire blurted out, raising a hand to his face. She realized what she was doing and abruptly dropped her hand, flushing a deep shade of red. "Sorry." She mumbled.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aaron studied the girl who had just called him Mush. Normally, anyone calling him Mush would be a screaming fan trying to rip his clothes off, but this girl had looked like she expected him to actuallybe Mush. And she looked so familiar. He took her hand to shake it, but drew back at the tingling sensation which traveled up his arm at the contact. She looked up at him from those violet eyes, tucking her long purple-streaked whitish blonde hair behind her ears. "M... Moth?" It was his turn to blush as she blinked a few times. "Sorry, I don't know where that came from." He grinned at her and when she grinned back, everything seemed okay again. "My name's Aaron." He supplied, holding out his hand. "Aaron Lohr." She took his hand and the tingling sensation came back, only this time neither of them pulled away. "I'm Claire Masterson."

Aaron turned to the other guy who'd been dancing, who was now talking to Star. "This is Gabe Damon. Gabe, this is Claire." Gabe stuck out his hand, which Claire shook and then turned back to Star. Claire and Aaron looked at each other, uncertain of what to say. "So… I take it you're a Newsies fan." He started, indicating her clothing. She laughed a little. "Yeah, I'm a huge fan. I'm an extremely obsessed fan, at that." She glanced up at him questioningly. "How come you and Gabe were dancing just then?" 

Aaron shrugged. "I have no idea. We just all of a sudden started. It was really weird because neither of us were even thinking about it before." Claire nodded and dragged him over to where a slightly older guy was sitting. "Travis, this is Aaron. He played Mush in Newsies." Travis stood up and stuck out his hand. "It's nice to finally meet one of the people Claire and Star talk about constantly." He laughed as Claire blushed. "Every day it's Mush this, Spot that, blah, blah, blah Aaron Gabe, blah, blah." Claire hit his arm. "We're not that bad!" 

"Yes you are." Travis rolled his eyes. "Mostly worse though." Aaron chuckled. "Are you guys all siblings?" Travis widened his eyes in mock-horror. "God, no! I would have probably killed them both by now!" He ducked as Claire swung for his head. "we're all just good friends." He sat back down on the bench and whistled, causing Star to look over and then walk towards them with Gabe in tow. "Gabe this is Travis. He and Claire here are my best friends. Travis, this is Gabe Damon, who played Spot." Travis and Spot shook hands and then the five looked at each other. Travis, sensing that he would be a fifth wheel, spoke up. "Why don't you guys walk around and I'll go back to the hotel. I'm kind of tired anyway. Just make sure to be back by 6:30." He turned and walked off through the crowd.

"We can show you two around." Aaron spoke up. "I'm guessing you guys want to see the newsie places?" Star and Claire nodded and so the four were off, unaware that all their lives had just changed drastically.

Well, there we go… Anyone have an idea of where I'm going with this yet? Write it in your review if you do! I'm curious… And now, it's that time again. The time when you're supposed to press that button and tell me what you thought of this chapter… Have fun!!


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed, I wasn't going to write, but then I decided to, today being my birthday and all… Yes, that's right! I was born on Mommy's Day!!! Of course, my b-day isn't always the same day as Mommy's Day, but this year it is. And you know what's funny? My cousin was born the SAME YEAR on Daddy's Day!!! Cool, eh? Yes, I thought so too! Anyway… this is going to be a short chap b/c I don't have a ton of time right now… But it's the Special Edition Birthday Chap!!! YAY!!! *Cheers wildly* Yeah…. Ok, on with the story…

Twists of Life 

Chapter Four

Claire, Star, Aaron and Gabe sat in a booth at a restaurant called, strangely enough, Tibby's. The girls hadn't expected there to be an actual Tibby's and had almost managed to get run over by a cab when they had stopped in the middle of the street. The guys somehow found this hilariously funny and wouldn't stop teasing them.

"Playing Chicken with the cabs, Claire? New York cabbies don't give a crap…"

"What were you trying to imitate?  A bird?" 

The girls took it all good naturedly, knowing that they could stop it at any time. As the conversation wore on, Aaron and Claire just started concentrating on each other.

"Where do you look so familiar from?" Aaron studied Claire's face thoughtfully, noting each detail. "What's really weird is that I've been having these dreams and there's a person in them that looks exactly like you, except her name is Moth."

Claire stared at him in shock. "In these dreams… Are you going out with her? And your name is Mush?" When Aaron nodded, she continued. "And is Moth's real name Claire Masterson?"

Aaron's mouth dropped open in shock. How… how'd you know?" He looked at her suspiciously, trying to figure out if she was making fun of him.

"I have the same dreams. But not just dreams. Sometimes I space out and have daydreams, but they're more like memories…"

"I get those too! Especially when I'm in New York! That's part of the reason why I'm here, is to see if I could figure it out."

Suddenly Star leaned across the table. "Wait, you guys have these things too? Cause I just found out both me and Gabe get them."

The four stared at each other, not sure what to do or say next.

~*~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

_"Hey Ducky, Moth." The two girls turned to see Mush and Spot standing behind them._

"Hey guys," Moth said. Wrapping her arms around Mush's neck as he leaned in to kiss her. She heard Ducky murmur a similar greeting before Spot nabbed her.

_The four walked towards the restaurant, talking and laughing. When they got inside, Mush called to the owner._

_"Hey, Tibby! Four waters over here please!" The man behind the counter nodded and in a few seconds had brought the glasses and some menus to the newsies. They thanked him and opened the menus, looking up every once in a while to laugh at some joke._

~*~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

"Well… that was interesting… If you all saw the same thing I did." Aaron was the first one to speak, and as he looked around the table, the other three nodded. They sat in silence for several minutes until Claire suddenly straightened up.

"I know what it is!"

All right, that's all you get! ^_^ I'm so nice! Review please! It would make me happy! Especially since it's my B-day! ^_____^ Love ya'll!!!


	5. Chapter Five

A/N: Argh! Ok… here's the new chap FINALLY… and I'm only writing this cause Megs (I've christened you that now, deal with it ^_^) has stolen my golf club and is threatening me with it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chap 4, you kids are great ^_^ and now, on with the story.

Twists of Life

Chapter Five

Three pairs of eyes fastened on Claire and they waited impatiently as she took a sip of her water. Suddenly her face fell. "I forgot…" Mush and Spot sat back in the booth, disappointed and Star glared for a moment before throwing her napkin at Claire, who grimaced. (AN: how's that as a way to kill a cliffhanger? Thanks Megs!)

"Now what? Maybe we should walk around a bit more and find where more things were. We might have some more of those flashback things." Gabe slid out of the booth and put a couple dollars on the table, waving away the girl's attempts to hand him money for their food. "You guys can pay later." He walked to the register and paid the bill while the other three walked to the door.

The four walked outside and back to the Horace Greeley statue to plan things out. Star and Claire hopped up on the base of the statue, while Gabe and Aaron leaned against it. 

"How about Brooklyn Bridge?" Claire asked. "We could take a cab there and then walk across and get a cab on the other side." Aaron nodded and looked at Gabe and Star for agreement before walking to the street and hailing a cab. The four got in and told the driver their destination.

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Short, I know… but at least I updated! Now I just gotta get my golf club back… Hey! Guess what I read the other day!!! Apparently, some kid shot a spitball and hit some other kid in the eye and the kid who got hit had to get surgery! And so now the kid who shot the spitball is being charged for several things, including assault with a deadly weapon! And it was a freaking accident!!! How stupid is that??? A piece of paper soaked in saliva is now a deadly weapon… *rolls eyes* whatever… Anyway, please review!


	6. Chapter Six

I looked at my reviews today and lo and behold there were new reviewers! I felt so special ^_^ Thanks to everyone who reviewed… lets see if I can remember most of you, hopefully all…

Stress – Thanks for reviewing, glad you like it so far!

Half-Pint – Thanks for reviewing!

Night-Owl – Yup, new ficcy ^_^

Megs – Tanks for the review… I want my golf club back!!! 

Was that everyone? I don't remember, cause I'm not online… Sorry if I forgot anyone… Here I am updating… Mostly because my super-special golf club has been taken once again and Portman won't help me get it back because he wants me to review also. *Growls at Portman who has the decency to look ashamed* Anyway, on with the fic!!!

Twists of Life

Chapter Six

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The four teenagers stood at the railing of the Brooklyn Bridge and yelled at the water below. Other passersby looked at them strangely and muttered comments under their breath about obnoxious teens.

"How long do you think it will take us to get across?" Star asked as the four continued towards the Brooklyn end of the bridge.

"Probably about a half hour or something, depending on how fast we walk." Mush shrugged. "I don't remember from last time."

By the time they reached Brooklyn it was almost dark, so they hailed a cab back to the hotel. Talking and joking made the time pass quickly and before they knew it, they were pulling up in front of the hotel and the sun had set. They paid the cabbie and ran up to the girls' room, where they found Travis waiting with a pizza. 

"Newsies is on Pay-Per View." He said. "I suppose you guys will want to watch it?" He chuckled as Claire and Star just raised their eyebrows at him. "Yeah, thought so." He ordered the movie and turned the lights out. "I'm going to watch something else in my room."

Claire and Aaron settled onto Claire's bed while Gabe and Star sat on Star's. As the movie started, Claire found her mind wandering.

~*~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

Mush looked down at Moth, who was resting her head on his shoulder as they danced. He had to tell her, but he didn't know how to start. The song ended and she looked up at him. 

_"Let's go take a walk." He nodded and pulled away from her, taking her hand as they walked out of Irving Hall. It was now or never._

_Mush looked up at the sky. It was a perfectly clear night and there were thousands of stars visible. He pulled Moth closer, putting an arm around her. They walked in silence for several minutes until they reached Central Park._

_"Moth, I…" He trailed off not sure how to say this. He turned towards her; clasping both her hands in his as he searched for the right words. "I…" As she looked up at him expectantly, her eyes reflected the light of the stars and his train of thought did a complete 180. Getting down on one knee, he pulled the small box out of his pocket._

_"Moth, will you marry me?" He opened the box and took out the small silver band with a single small diamond. Taking her left hand in his right he slipped the ring over her third finger and stood up, searching her face._

_`~`~`~`~`~_

_Moth stood stock still for several seconds, staring at the ring on her finger and trying to understand what had just happened. Suddenly it hit her and she looked up at Mush and nodded, not able to get any words past the lump in her throat._

_`~`~`~`~`~_

_Mush took her in his arms and kissed her softly, trying to figure out why he'd just done that. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry Moth, but the fact that he would be leaving for England in a week and he still hadn't told her. Granted, he had only found out the day before, but he'd still had plenty of opportunities to bring it up. Taking a deep breath, he started talking._

_"Moth, I found my dad yesterday. Well, last night actually. That's why I was gone for so long. We had a nice talk, getting to know each other again, you know?" _

_Moth hugged him tightly. "I'm so happy for you! Now you can invite him to our wedding!" She looked up at him with such pure love and adoration in her eyes that Mush couldn't continue. He just couldn't break her heart with the fact that he was leaving next week and might not ever see her again._

~*~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

"Dear me, I'm afraid that da sewer may have backed up during da night." Claire came back to the present to see Racetrack making fun of the Delancy brothers. She looked over at Aaron to discover he was looking back at her. They blushed and looked back at the T.V., pretending they were concentrating on the movie, while instead each mind raced over what had just occurred.

`~`~`~`~`~`~

Star watched the Delancys chase Jack around on the streets, but for once her mind wasn't on the movie. She was thinking over all that had happened that day and was wondering what it meant. She glanced at Claire and Aaron, both staring hard at the T.V. and blushing. Watching them for a moment, she decided either they had just kissed or they'd both had one of those flashback things in which they'd kissed or something. Star looked on her other side to Gabe and studied his profile for a few minutes. Suddenly he turned and looked at her and she found herself staring into his blue-gray eyes.

~*~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~

Spot grinned at Ducky as his arms reached out and pulled her against him. They had both come back from selling early and had the LH to themselves. As they kissed, Ducky felt Spot's hands travel up and down her back, starting shivers down her spine. She reached up and entangled one of her hands in his hair, while the fingers of the other one danced on the back of his neck.

_Pulling one of his hands away from her back, Spot caressed the side of Ducky's face, letting his hand fall to her shoulder and around to her throat, where he played with the button of her shirt for a couple seconds, finally unfastening it and dropping his hand to the next one. _

_`~`~`~`~`~`~_

_Some time later, Specs walked into the room and grinned. There was a trail of clothes leading to one of the beds, where Ducky and Spot lay sleeping in each other's arms. The smile disappeared when Specs realized the couple was in HIS bed. Glaring, he cleared his throat loudly and watched the two pairs of eyes pop open in alarm and then gaze sheepishly at him._

~*~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

Ducky quickly averted her eyes from Gabe's and looked back at the screen, not actually seeing or hearing the movie. She could feel Gabe's eyes on her and knew her cheeks were flaming. Suddenly, she found herself staring into his eyes again as their lips met in a deep kiss.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~  
  


Okay, so maybe it went kind of fast… Did it? Gabe and Star wanted more action, so I let them take control of my fingers partially. Not fully, because I'm trying to keep this PG 13!! They wanted to go at least R in the flashback, but I decided not to let them… yet. *Smirks* Seriously though, some of the chapters may have higher ratings, I'll have to see when I write them. I had no idea this chapter was going to turn out this way… Review please!!!


	7. Chapter Seven

Alrighty… amazingly enough, Word has decided to work today while I am online, which means I can do SO's and get everyone…

Megs – My golf club is forever safe from your grasp!!! But you know that… And I know I said I wouldn't update tonight, but look! I lied!!! Aren't I just horrible? No one can trust me anymore… Of course this most likely means no mid-day update… oh well ^_^ 

Stress – Yes, Specs was a teensy bit mad at me for that one… He kind of stopped talking to me and kidnapped a couple voices… If you see him, send him over, please ^_^ Luckily the voices he took are not immediately needed, but I'll need them in a bit… And now I'm rambling on and on…

Lucky – Thanks for reviewing!!! 

Rumor – I was a bit unhappy with Mush myself there… He isn't the sharpest crayon in the box… You'll probably get more mad at him later… but I didn't say that out loud…

And now… on with the story…

Twists of Life

Chapter Seven

The next morning, Claire opened her eyes to see Aaron's face about 4 inches away from her own. She wondered for a second why Aaron Lohr was sleeping in her bed and had just decided she was still asleep when she remembered the recent events. 'I just became the girl everyone wants to be. Aaron Lohr is sleeping in my bed.' She got up and gathered some clothes and her towel, going into the bathroom to shower and dress. When she came out 15 minutes later, Star, Aaron and Gabe were up and chatting. 

"We decided to ask Travis about these flashback things. Maybe he can help us figure it out." Star grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom. "Let's ask when I get out." The other three nodded and started talking as they waited.

When Star was done, they went and knocked on Travis's door. "Come in!" came the voice from the other side. As they walked into the room, Travis sat up in his bed. "What's up?"

They explained the flashbacks and told him about the one they'd had a Tibby's. When they were done, Travis sat there for a little while before speaking. "It sounds like you guys are experiencing something from a past life. The fact that you have the same ones indicates that you knew each other. Maybe you should go to a library and see if you can find anything out about people with the same name from that time." 

"Well, the thing is, is that all the people in these flashbacks look like the people from Newsies. And I know that the original newsies didn't look like that. Some of them didn't even exist!" Claire looked at Travis in confusion. "But I guess it's worth a try. Maybe Disney was more accurate than anyone knows." Everyone else agreed with this and they all decided to get Room Service before heading out.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

Okay, so it was short… but I wanted to do the Library part separately, so that will be the next chap. I just started writing and nothing would come out, but I wanted to write a chap… So that was it… hopefully more tomorrow night, when things will get a bit more exciting… Review please… although this chapter sucked a lot of ass…


	8. Chapter Eight

Yes! Look at me! I updated!!! I'm so special… Sorry for not updating before, I didn't have time over the weekend and I was extremely tired last night and Monday night. But now I'm updating. Yay for me! And now for SO's

Megs – I'm updating! Look!

Stress – Specs came back finally. Thanks for having your minion watching for him. And yeah… I know I gave Disney a lot of credit… *shrugs* oh well…

Lucky – Yup, Travis is the smart one… ^_^ Thanks for the review!

Rumor – Glad to see you back! And I'm pretty sure you could be madder at Mush later… just wait and see…

Dommer – Disney being the company… Thanks for reviewing the last three chaps! ^_^

And now, onto the story!

Twists of Life

Chapter Eight

The library was a large gray stone building with wide steps leading up to the double doors. As the five friends stepped through, the air turned several degrees cooler and the light dimmer. They paused to adjust their eyes before looking around.

"Well, I think we should ask the librarian about microfilm. That would probably be easiest." Travis said, heading over to the information desk. The rest followed him and they were all soon set up at two machines, each with a couple reels of microfilm next to them.

Aaron and Claire were at one machine, while Star and Gabe were at the other and Travis went in search of a book to read while he was waiting. For several minutes they were all silent, concentrating on the words scrolling before them. 

"Guys! Here's something!" Star looked up from her machine. "It's an article about the newsie strike." Aaron and Moth crowded in next to her and Gabe and they all started reading. The article told about the raise in the price of papers and mentioned several names, including Mush, Racetrack and Kid Blink, but told the four teenagers nothing they didn't already know. 

The next one to spot something was Aaron, who found an article titled 'Interviewing the newsies – An inside look at street life in 1900'. Scanning it, two names leaped out at him. Moth and Ducky. Reading it, they discovered that Moth and Ducky had joined after the strike, as did the rest of the girl newsies. The article described Moth as 'tall, with blonde hair and purple eyes', leaving no doubt in any of their minds that there was a connection. 

Ducky was described as 'a few inches shorter with red hair and bright green eyes', being a perfect match for Star. Both Ducky and Moth were asked about boyfriends, to which they answered affirmatively, but not mentioning names.

The four searched the rest of their reels, writing down any interesting points and having a good time, until reaching 1903 when they came across an obituary.

 Claire 'Moth' Masterson, of Manhattan

died in England, Tuesday, May 17th, 1903,

after being trampled by a runaway carriage.

She was born May 12th, 1884 in Sheridan,

Oregon. None of her family is left alive.__

~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~__

_Moth walked down the sidewalk, enjoying the sights of England. She had just gotten off the boat from New York, having just saved enough for the trip. It had been a year since she'd last heard from Mush, she suspected his father was preventing him from writing her, so she had no idea where to start looking for him. After pondering this for several minutes, she had decided to start in the last place she's gotten a letter from him. Even if he didn't live there still, the current residents might know something._

_Watching the people, Moth noticed a young couple with a baby. As she watched, the man smiled at his wife lovingly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He looked hauntingly familiar to Moth, and as he turned, she saw why. It was Mush, but he was dressed in rich clothing made from expensive material. His hair had been tamed into short waves and he carried a shiny black derby in his hand. _

_Moth shrank back, lest he see her in her shabby rags. She looked for an escape as he walked nearer and decided the safest place would be the other side of the street. She stumbled off the curb, half blinded by tears and feeling her heart break. Dimly she heard shouting and looked up to see a horse barreling towards her with a carriage in tow, bouncing wildly. Moth regarded the horse with a sort of detached horror, not able to make herself realize the danger she was in. _

_As the horse trampled her into the ground, she called a single word, putting all her heartbreak, fright, sadness and betrayal into it. "Mush!" Those near enough to hear her later remarked that tears came to their eyes at the amount of raw emotion in that single word._

_~*~_

_Aaron heard the cry and wondered why the name sounded familiar. Suddenly he realized it was his name he'd used when he'd been a newsie. No one had called him that for over a year, since he got the last letter from Moth. He sought out the source of the cry, his eyes orienting on a crowd in the middle of the street. He was suddenly gripped by fear for a reason he didn't understand and he left Madeline, pushing his way to the middle of the crowd._

_He stared at the girl on the ground for several moments, refusing to believe what he saw. It couldn't be Moth, why would she be in England? But that was the same face and hair and the same birthmark on her left temple. He couldn't see her eyes, because they were closed, but he no longer had any doubt. She must have come here looking for him. She'd had no way of knowing he was married, since his father still monitored all his actions to keep him from going back to New York and his old life._

_Aaron smoothed the hair on Moth's forehead and planted a light kiss there, letting his tears fall freely on her face. He noticed she still wore his ring and a stab of guilt went through him. He slowly stood and turned to Madeline, who had come up beside him. The look in her eyes was sympathetic, telling him she understood how much pain he felt and that she wasn't jealous that he still cared for Moth. Aaron wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair as his shoulders shook with grief._

~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~

Claire, Aaron and Star all had tears streaming down their cheeks and Gabe looked shaken and pale. Solemnly and silently, they went back to their search for information.

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

It seems I have a thing for runaway carriages… weird… I hope you all liked this chapter… well… not the… yeah… you know what I mean… and yes, it was sad, I wasn't planning to put this part in so soon, but it happened… oh well… review please! I'll love you forever!


	9. Chapter Nine

Alrighty… here's an update… Hope you enjoy…

Thanks to all who reviewed, I don't remember who you are since I'm offline, but thanks anyway! ^_^

Oh, and I just thought up a name for a ship (the _Liberty_) and it has no relation to any ship actually named that.

Twists of Life

Chapter Nine

As the research continued, moods lightened considerably as they discovered what had happened to Spot and Ducky. The two had gotten married, using their real names, Gabe Damon and Star. Shortly after their marriage, they'd borne two children, twins named Aaron Derek Damon and Claire Julia Damon, after their best friends. 

The couple had become rich after investing in oil and lived a life of sophistication and parties, but never forgetting their lives as newsies, never failing to visit the lodging houses and give financial support at Christmastime.

Several articles mentioned them at parties and charity events throughout the years, sometimes mentioning their children. An article from 1908 showed another child born to them, a girl who they named Amanda Jean Damon.

After that, there was nothing significant until an article from March 1912, which showed their names on a passenger list for a ship called the _Liberty_, which was going from New York to England. (A/N: Can you see it coming?)

~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~__

_Star and Gabe stepped off the gangplank, looking around the dock. A small girl around the twins' age ran up to them. "Are you the Damons? Mommy and Daddy sent me to find you. I'm Moth Lohr." She turned and threaded her way through the crowd expertly, almost losing them several times until she grabbed onto Claire's hand and pulled the family along with her._

_They reached a fairly open spot where two grownups were sitting on a low wall. Moth dropped Claire's hand and ran to them, shouting. "Daddy, daddy I found them!" The couple looked up and Star and Gabe recognized Aaron. _

_After Star had hugged him, Gabe had shaken his hand and the children had been introduced, Aaron turned to the woman who was hanging back shyly. "Gabe, Star this is my wife Madeline. We were married shortly after I was brought to England." Star eyed the other woman, taking in her long dark hair, brown eyes and shy smile._

_"I'm very glad to meet you both. Aaron talks about you all the time, along with…" Madeline trailed off, not sure whether she should mention the girl whose place she had taken. "Along with the rest of your friends back in New York." _

_Seeing the grief and understanding in the woman's eyes, Star stepped forward to give her a warm hug. "Thank you for making Mu… Aaron happy." She whispered. "I can only imagine how upset he must have been." _

_They all walked to the Lohrs' automobile, talking about their old newsie friends, catching Aaron up on the current events. "Race owns a horse which he runs at Sheepshead. It's making him a nice bit of money. Jack and Stress got married and moved out to Santa Fe a couple years ago, we just got a letter from them saying they have a baby girl."_

_The conversation wore on as they drove to the Lohrs' house. Before anyone knew it, they had pulled up to the front porch and the chauffeur was holding the door open for them._

~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~

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Alrighty… end of chap. Next chap will be almost all flashbacks I think, and something else… the reason I asked if you could see it coming when they went on the boat trip to England. *Grins evilly* Hope you enjoyed… Oh! And… the next chap won't come until I reach 50 reviews… from different people! I'll ignore people reviewing more than once just to get to 50 *glares* So go review now!


	10. Chapter Ten

I haven't gotten 50 REAL reviews… but I'm posting anyway… I had horrible writer's block but thanks to my muse I was able to write this ^_^

Twists of Life

Chapter Ten

Travis walked over and touched Claire on the shoulder gently. "You guys found anything yet?" 

"Yeah here, we printed some of the articles. Check 'em out." Claire showed him what they'd found and described the flashbacks they'd had. "I still don't understand what exactly is going on."

"Well," Mike sat down, eyeing the other four, "I can make a guess, but I don't know if I'm right. It sounds like you guys all knew each other in a former life. I've heard of it happening before, where people have died young and then reborn later to finish what their life should have been." He looked at the articles in his hand for a second and ran his hand through his hair. "I think it'll be best if I went through the rest of the microfilm and you guys read it back at the hotel. It'll go faster and the librarians will probably freak if you guys start acting like people from the early 1900's."

Everyone agreed to meet back at the hotel later for dinner and Aaron, Gabe, Star and Moth left the library. Once outside, Aaron and Claire decided to go see a movie while Gabe and Star wanted to eat. They found a taxi and got in, telling the driver where to go. 

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

There. A chapter. A short chapter yes, but a chapter nonetheless. I needed a break from flashbacks and I kind of also wrote this through writers block. Also, I'm working on another story, so I'll be writing whichever one depending on what mood I'm in. Review please!


	11. Chapter Eleven

*Creeps out into the light* Well… I have written… finally. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chap… even though that was last year in *wince* June…  I don't remember what movies were in theaters then, so I'll just pick a couple…

Dedication: To Kim, for helping me out with this chapter and prodding me to write, although not on this story… ^_^

Disclaimer: Don't own Newsies, Aaron Lohr (if only!) or Gabe Damon. I only own Star, Claire, Travis and other characters you don't recognize. Don't own the RMS Titanic either… *winces* I **know** it's horribly cliché, but I just couldn't help myself!

Twists of Life

Chapter Eleven

 The cab pulled up in front of the Hard Rock Café to let Gabe and Star out. Several girl in mini-skirts and tube tops looked at Gabe like they weren't quite sure if he was famous or not, for which the two were very thankful. They made it inside without any trouble and were shown to a table off to the side, as they'd requested.

 "So what are we supposed to do now?" Star toyed with her fork as she tried to concentrate on the menu. 

"Order food?" Gabe felt just as nervous as Star looked, but he refused to let it show. They'd figure out what was happening sooner or later, but there was no use obsessing over it in the meanwhile. "Let's just eat and worry about this later, alright? Just work on having a good time right now."

"You kids ready to order?" The waitress stood over them, tapping her pen against her order pad. They looked up at her a bit sheepishly, unaware until that moment that she'd been standing there for quite some time. 

"Uh, yeah." The two placed their orders quickly and handed her the menus. 

"I'll come back in a couple minutes with your drinks," the waitress said. She winked at them knowingly and walked off, still tapping the order pad.

  "So…" Star searched her mind for something to say. "About that kiss last night… I don't normally do that kind of thing… Go around kissing guys I just met, I mean." She watched Gabe's expression nervously. "So, I don't want you to go around thinking I'm a slut or anythi…" She stopped when she saw him grinning.

 "Don't worry about it. It wasn't anything either of us could help. I don't normally kiss girls I've only known for a day either." They grinned at each other in relief, not noticing when the waitress returned to put their drinks on the table.

~*~*~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~*~*~

"When are we going to get home mom?" 11 year-old Claire Damon looked up at her mother, bouncing a little on her right foot. 

_"Honey, we just started a couple of hours ago. Why don't you go and explore the ship with your brother?" Star smiled indulgently at her daughter and gently pushed her in the direction of the door. "And take Amanda Jean with you!"_

_Gabe wrapped his arms around his wife and rested his chin on her head. "Hard to believe we've been married almost twelve years, huh? It seems like only yesterday we were selling newspapers and starving on the streets, and now we're in a first class cabin aboard the most famous ship of it's time." He took her hand and they walked out onto the private deck connecting to their rooms. _

_~*~_

_Star was jolted out of a sound sleep by an awful grating noise and what felt like an earthquake, and for a second she thought maybe it had been a dream and Gabe had rolled over in bed. She reached out for him to reassure herself, but her hand felt only warm sheets where he had been. "Gabe?" She got out of bed and switched on the light, terror clutching at her mind for a reason she couldn't put her finger on._

_"I'm with the kids, hon." Gabe's voice floated through the darkness of the main room. "I'm going to check and see what's going on. The engines have stopped." _

_As he stepped out the door, Star realized he was right. Why would the engines stop? She put on a robe and poked her head out into the hall, a bit surprised at all the activity going on. Gabe was talking to a crewmember and as she watched, he turned and came back towards her, looking puzzled._

_"They say it's nothing but that we should put out lifejackets on just in case." _

_"In case of what? What happened Gabe?" Star was already moving to where the life jackets were stored. "Claire! Aaron! Bring your sister and get in here please!"_

_"I'll go up to the main deck and look around." Gabe grabbed a life jacket and was halfway to the door when Star stopped him._

_"No! We'll all go." She waved off his protests and they all got dressed in warm clothes and coats before stepping out into the confusion of the hallway._

_When they reached the main deck, Gabe picked up Amanda and had Aaron hold onto his coattails while Claire and Star followed closely, holding on to each other for dear life. The deck was a madhouse. Women were crying and children were screaming and running around wildly. Star noticed that the deck was slightly tilted towards the front of the boat._

_"Please board the lifeboats!" A deckhand was shouting at the top of his lungs, trying to herd the crowd towards the lifeboats that were being readied. Some people got in, while others simply laughed or stared numbly at him, not seeming to realize the significance of what was being said. Suddenly, a woman flung herself into the crowd screaming, "It's sinking! It's sinking!" The rest of the passengers stampeded towards the lifeboats._

_ "Women and children first please! Women and children!" A gunshot rang out and a man fell over the railing. The ship was now very obviously slanted and people were falling and crawling over each other to reach the lifeboats._

_ In an unspoken agreement, Star and Gabe took the children to a spot next to the wall, where there weren't as many people. _

_"Take the kids and go." Gabe shoved Amanda into Star's arms and transferred Aaron's grip to her coat. "I'll follow when they let the men go." He kissed his family and led them through the crowd to the nearest boat. He lifted Aaron and Claire in and turned to help Star step across._

_"I'm sorry ma'am, there's only room for one more." An officer held his arm out, preventing Star from stepping into the lifeboat. Without hesitation, Star handed Amanda Jean to Aaron and turned away, tears streaming down her face. Gabe looked at their three children._

_ "When you get to New York, go straight to our house and wait there if we haven't found you yet. We'll see you soon. I love you."  He and Star fought their way slowly through the crowd to find another boat. The deck of the ship was steeply slanted now and more and more people were jumping over the side in a last attempt to live.  _

_"Gabe, there are no more boats. We'll have to jump or go down with the ship." Star hoped the children had made it all right, because she wasn't sure she and Gabe would. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head into his chest, taking comfort in the familiarity of his arms encircling her and his chin resting on her head. _

_As they stood there in a moment of indecision, their minds were made up for them. A slightly overweight woman lost her balance and fell against them, knocking them into a man who was standing against the railing. The man stumbled out of the way and in anger shoved the couple into the railing, causing them to flip up and over it. The last thing Star saw as she was sucked back into the ship was Gabe's face staring calmly back at her._

~*~*~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~*~*~

"Kids? Hey! You want your food or not?" Star and Gabe looked up in confusion at the waitress who was standing next to them tapping her foot impatiently. 

"Uh, yeah." They sat back in their chairs and let her put the food down. Neither of them said a word for the rest of the meal.

A/N: I like killing people, I know… But hey! At least it's a chapter!


End file.
